Good luck Tigers

The sixth game of this World Cup between hosts New Zealand and Scotland is a study of stark contrast of what had happed in the first five games, where teams batting first put up totals of 300 or more. Monday's match at Dunedin produced a combined two-innings total of 288 runs and that too at the cost of a staggering 17 wickets. And in that nervy three-wicket win the home side's performance bordered between two extremes. They were extremely clinical with the ball and then were extremely careless while chasing down a paltry Scottish total of 142. It was inexplicable to say the least. There might be one good reason why the Kiwis were in such a mad rush, perhaps they wanted to better their performance against a team they beat with 212 deliveries to spare in their last meeting in 2008.

Scotland played their hearts out with limited resources to make an impression after Ireland's historic four-wicket win against the once-mighty West Indies the other day. But this is a kind of match fans will forget quickly due to the lack of entertainment value and perhaps will search for the next menu in the long roster.

What's next on the menu? It's Bangladesh versus Afghanistan. While the cricketing fraternity will keep an eye on how Afghanistan perform on the biggest stage, the Tigers' faithful will be glued to their television screens from 9.30am this morning, anticipating a win. Bangladesh may have had a forgettable build up to the World Cup, but a victory against Afghanistan will ease all the pressure and tension that has been creeping up on the players and fans alike for the last week, when the only topic dictating every discussion was “Can Bangladesh beat Afghanistan in their opening game?” The simple answer to this question is Bangladesh should, considering the strength of the two teams. Then what are the obstacles they are supposed to overcome? To be frank our players can be their own enemies as evidenced by the past. So, the best winning formula is: do the simple things that you have learnt and enjoy your time in the middle as much as you can. Good luck Tigers.